Coffee Run
by Takada Saiko
Summary: Joan and Auggie discuss his acclimation to life behind a desk after returning from Iraq. R&R please!


Title: Coffee Run

Author: Takada Saiko

A/N: This comes from a review I gave to Mag721 on her story 'Because'. The subject was Joan and Auggie's relationship. Enjoy!

Late nights, dangerous work, secrets, and bad coffee were all part of the job description at Langley. With the possibility of a Starbucks being put into the food court, at least one of those had the potential of being struck from the list. The late nights? Joan was pretty sure that she was stuck with those. She'd gotten used to it in the field, and even more so once she (finally) accepted the desk job as head of the DPD.

A yawn escaped her and she reached for her coffee cup. Empty. Well wasn't that just how the entire day was going? With that thought and an irritable look at the pile of paperwork she still had to shift through before going home tonight, she decided that a coffee run was a necessity to her ability to work.

The office was mostly empty, with the lights turned down low. It was almost like moving through a ghost town as her heels lightly clinked against the metal steps on her way to the lower level. Only a couple computer monitors hummed lowly as if their regular users had left them only a bit before Joan had wandered out. The only noise other than her own movement was coming from the slightly cracked door leading to the tech room. The computer from within shown brightly in the darkened room.

As far as Joan knew, the tech crew had left around seven that evening, after finishing up a mission. No one should have been in there, and she decided that was reason enough beyond her curiosity to double check.

Auggie Anderson sat at his desk, frowning at the computer in front of him and running his fingers lightly over the Braille readout from the computer monitor that glowed brightly against his face. He'd only returned to work the week before, having pushed through everything that the Agency had given him in the way of treatment after the explosion that had left him blinded in Iraq. Within months he'd learned to – fairly proficiently – read Braille and was currently working on the learning to navigate the new computer that had been presented to him upon his return. He'd been one of the best field agents that Joan had ever seen, and she had fought tooth and nail to keep him with the CIA. With the transition of Henry Willcox leaving and Arthur Campbell filling his place, she'd managed it. She did have a way with getting her way with Arthur, after all.

"You're here late."

Auggie jumped, pulling his headsets from his ears and his dark eyes were wide. "Joan?" he asked, his voice showing that he wasn't entirely comfortable with his guess.

"At your door," she alerted him. "What are you doing here so late? I gave tech clearance to leave three hours ago."

The field agent-turned-tech expert sighed and rubbed his eyes. It was funny, in a way. They weren't doing any work at all – and hadn't for months now – but they felt just as tired as if he had been reading everything off of the computer screen for the entire day. "This computer," he grumbled, waving in its general direction. "It's impressive, but…"

"It'll take time," Joan murmured, moving into the room. Wires were everywhere and she looked to the floor and noted that it was no better. It was only a matter of time before Auggie made the wrong step and flattened himself with the way the room was positioned. "You've crammed a whole new writing system into your brain within a couple of months. Not to mention everything else you've had to learn."

Auggie snorted, frustration evident. "It shouldn't take this long. I've been at it a week."

Joan was not one to mother someone, and from what she had heard of Auggie's family, he certainly didn't need another overindulging mother in his life, but she couldn't help but fill a rush of sympathy for him. Not pity, though. She had to catch a hold of herself before that sympathy turned to pity. He'd never forgive her for crossing that line. "Auggie, you have to give yourself time," she said, weighing the words as she spoke. "Believe me, it will come to you. You're an intelligent young man."

"I just don't want to slow everyone down," Auggie admitted quietly. "I'm already months behind, I'm having to learn a new style of reading, and people keep walking up and I _know_ I've heard their voices before, but I just can't place them." A short, almost bitter laugh escaped his lips. "I had such a memory for faces, too."

"Auggie, would I have kept you on here if I thought you'd slow everyone down?"

"Joan-"

"That's a serious question. You know well enough how much I respect you as an agent, but I could not –_would_ not – keep you on out of a misplaced sense of pity, and you know that, Auggie."

Her voice was sharp and serious and it caused the newly blinded man to sit straight in his seat. He felt like he'd just landed himself back in the army and a "yes ma'am" slipped from his lips, causing her to smile.

"That settled, I'm in desperate need of coffee. Care to join?"

"Coffee would be good," Auggie answered, a smile perking his lips. He stood, groping around for his walking cane. Finding, it began slowly making his way to the door.

"Auggie, a word of advice," Joan said as she placed a hand on his elbow, giving him some sense of where he was going beyond his stick. "Not everyone that offers to help you is doing it out of pity or because they think you can't do it. We know you can, but this is our own little warped family here. We stand by each other. You know that."

This brought a chuckle from Auggie. "Oh, I've been hearing a buzz around about some new little invention. Supposed to be about the size of a small flashlight, but it's a walking stick with lasers or something?"

"That was supposed to be a surprise," Joan grumbled. "There's something wrong when I can't even keep something like that under wraps. How did you hear about it?"

Auggie grinned broadly, looking very much like his old self. "Because I'm the best," he answered.

Joan shook her head and laughed to herself. She had a feeling he'd be all right. It would be a long road ahead, but he'd be all right.

A/N: Remember. I have an addiction, and the addiction is reviews. =D


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